


Artificial

by yourhoboswitness



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates, animator au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 13:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7317229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourhoboswitness/pseuds/yourhoboswitness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes it didn't matter that the clocks timed out at the exact same time. It didn't matter that the universe destined two people to be together. Because a week is not enough time to figure out if it's worth it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Artificial

“Well, this isn’t ideal.” 

“Ideal? Dude, this is…” 

Scary, unfair, and maybe kinda cool? Ross couldn’t put into words the emotion he felt when he realized his timer had hit zero; it timed out the moment he met eyes with Arin at the airport. The only thing that he truly knew was that this, above everything else, was _fate_. 

And he really didn’t know how he felt about that.

For a moment, Ross wondered if he had planned his first trip to America with this in mind. If he had looked at his timer and unconsciously aligned the trip in hopes of this happening. But that wasn’t it. Ross would have agreed to come to California at any time. The dates just happened to match up. That’s how fate works anyway. 

Despite the heat, Ross grabbed his jacket which was draped over his suitcase and put it on in order to to cover his glowing wrist. He didn’t want to look at it; to think about what the timer meant. He could barely even say anything. It took what felt like full minutes before he could force himself to look up at Arin finally, trying to read his expression, to find what he was thinking. Arin’s reaction hadn’t exactly been the best, and finding out that your best friend from across the ocean was your soulmate shouldn’t… that was just it — it wasn’t ideal.

And it definitely wasn’t natural.

“Let’s just…” Ross trailed again. “I’m starving man, and you promised me Del Taco.” 

Noticing Ross’s cover-up of his arm with his jacket, Arin slowly placed a hand over his wrist, facing his timer towards his body so no one could see. He didn’t want anyone at the airport to give them any weird looks, and he was already self-conscious enough about it, even though he and Ross were obviously the only two that knew. This morning he had been thinking about this moment. He knew in his heart that as soon as he saw Ross get off the plane, the timer was going to count down to zero. Ross’s plane getting delayed an hour wasn’t a coincidence, it was to line up with their mirrored timers. In the days leading up to today he imagined them hugging; some sort of romantic scene. They should have been ecstatic about this.

About being each other’s soulmates.

They had met through Newgrounds. They were both animators that were getting recognized for their art, and would chat over Skype to have support and to just have company while drawing. It started as something they would occasionally do with other animators they had met, but their obsession with video games and crude humor made it to where they stopped doing group calls altogether and only really spoke with each other. They would stay up at crazy hours in order to spend any time with each other. But now, for the first time, they were standing face to face. At the man that the universe had destined them to be with forever.

Neither of them even knew this was possible. They had known each other for over a year. Ross and Arin were best friends. People’s timers count down to the moment soulmates meet each other for the first time; the first instance that their eyes meet. But apparently, the had never actually _met_ , at least not according to the timers. When Arin met Ross, he was sure that they weren’t soulmates. He figured he would bump into someone on the street in Los Angeles. And Ross had thought the same thing. His mother would always tell him that she was going to introduce him to a nice girl, changing fate by forcing Ross to be in front of the in-law of her dreams for Ross to settle down with. But Arin — he lived across an ocean. And he was absolutely right. This _wasn’t_ ideal.

Arin could tell that the moment was tense for both of them. Neither of the men knew what to say to each other. He imagined Ross was just as bad at expression emotions as he was, which was going to be a problem. Ross was only going to be there for a week. They didn’t have time to beat around the bush. 

He grabbed Ross’s suitcase and began pulling it in the direction of his parked car. “Who would’ve guessed we’re soulmates?” It was the first time either of them had said it aloud. It was one of the first things he really even said to Ross in real life. 

The words hung in the air before Ross answered. Arin couldn’t even be sure that Ross was following him until he heard a thick Australian accent answer him over his shoulder. “I know right… it’s crazy.” 

“Right like… who would’ve guessed our first fucking date was gonna be at Del Taco?” 

“Who says that this is a date?” Ross said sharply. 

Arin noticeably winced, his entire body tensing up, though he never let his pace slow. Ross noticed that it his words were probably said too harshly, but this was hard for him to deal with, and he couldn’t stop his immediate reaction from spitting out of his mouth. Embarrassed, Arin changed the subject. “Did you really only bring one suitcase?” 

“Uh… yeah.” Ross said. He wasn’t sure what was worse. Talking about the inevitable, or making pointless small talk. “I didn’t think I’d need a lot, plus I packed everything in really tight. Sorry if it’s heavy, I can take it.” 

Arin kept walking towards his car. He didn’t mind pulling it, stopping would only mean he would have to look at Ross, which was not possible after the last slip up he had just made. So he continued walking in silence, finally opening the back doors and tossing the case inside. He walked around to the driver’s side only feet away from Ross, who was still figuring out that American cars were different than the ones back home, and who was standing on the wrong side to be the passenger. 

“Oh, okay,” Ross said, mostly to himself, shaking his head and getting onto the right side of the car. He wasn’t thinking clearly and was lost in thought; he had no idea how to go about having any sort of future together with Arin, nonetheless talking about it. 

Arin put the keys in the ignition and stared straight ahead, finding the words to say. “This is… it’s whatever you want it to be, man. I was just joking. We don’t have to… let’s at least eat before we talk about this shit, man.” 

_ We don’t have to. _

Ross cursed himself as he settled into the passenger seat, trying not to take Arin’s defeated tone to heart. He slumped down, putting on his seatbelt, looking over to Arin’s wrist that he could no longer hide now that he had his hands on the wheel. Arin noticed the stares, but kept it to himself, continuing to look in front of him as he pulled out of his spot and pulled onto the road. There was no reason to make this situation any worse by telling Ross how uncomfortable he was.

When Arin used to be in school, people would look at each others timers and make predictions. Normal kid-stuff that always led to hurt feelings when you didn’t exactly fit it. He remembered a couple who met each other in middle school. A couple that was destined to be with each other from such a young age. The girl once pulled on his arm to get a better look at his timer, and made fun of him for having to wait for so long. He had to wait until his late twenties, and when you’re in middle school — late twenties meant _old_. 

His mom used to have to console him, telling him that he was lucky. That early-bonds were going to suffer for changing so much throughout their relationship. That they would have to surround their lives around another person from such a young age, and would develop an independent personality. But even now, Arin didn’t feel old. He was still animating, doing a creative hobby that he loved for money — but he wasn’t sure that he was going to do it forever. He was going to find another creative outlet. And all he could that about was that he didn’t want to surround his life around another person yet. Or maybe ever. He wanted to be free to always change. He wasn’t sure if Ross was ready to handle that he was still a growing person. Hell, he wasn’t sure if Ross even wanted to be his soulmate. 

Ross was finally the first to break the silence in the car, which was surprising considering he was jet lagged and in a completely foreign situation. “I know you were joking, Arin. You’re my best fucking friend. I’m just tired and hungry.” 

Arin nodded.

“So, you know, wow me with your Del Taco. You said it would be amazing, and I’m gonna take your word on it.” 

He finally smiled in response, happy that they were finally able to talk like friends. “Dude! You’re gonna love America. Our food is way bigger and better than anything you have in Australia!”

“You’re really hyping this place up. Are you sure that I’m gonna love it? Don’t disappoint me within my first hour on American soil, Hanson.” 

Ross was beginning to feel more comfortable. He tried to tell himself that the pit in his stomach wasn’t from being soulmates with Arin, but really just from being in a new place. _I would have felt this way no matter what._ Repeating the phrase over in his head didn’t really help though. He unbuckled his seatbelt eagerly as he saw the distant Del Taco sign. Arin was glad that they were able to beat LA traffic, and knew that the ride home wouldn’t be nearly as long and difficult. 

As he found a parking spot, Ross leaned forward in his seat to squint at the building. “Doesn’t look that impressive.” 

They stepped out of the car, soft laughter coming from both of them as they exchanged glances. Arin locked the car door, letting Ross walk just ahead of him. He looked at the other from behind, but quickly looked away before he could be accused of staring and continued walking normally as they made their way over to the entrance.

This wasn’t so bad. The awkwardness had passed for the most part, and they could finally relax. But part of them both knew that they were eventually going to have to talk about it; to talk about what the future held. But right now they just wanted to eat and not think about anything else. The feeling was mutual.

“Dude, you’re about to have the best fucking burrito in your life,” Arin said excitedly as they got in line. Sure, he was hyping the place up, but the restaurant was Arin’s favorite, and he wouldn’t have it be their first stop if he didn’t think it would impress Ross.

He hated how much he wanted to show off. He usually never cared what people thought of him. But for whatever reason, Arin really wanted Ross to be impressed. Even though it was just a stupid taco place, he still wanted the other to think it was really cool just because Arin was showing it to him. He tried not to let it show on his face, but he wasn’t sure how much that was working for him considering the younger man was staring up at the older man and glaring. He couldn’t tell if Ross was still joking or if he really didn’t like it here. For a moment, Arin wondered if he would have cared as much under different circumstances.

Ross, however, didn’t have the intention to make Arin so nervous. He was staring for an entirely different reason. Despite not looking that different from any chain in Australia, Ross trusted Arin that this place made the best burritos ever. Ross believed most of the dumb shit that came out of Arin’s mouth. He hadn’t really thought about how he so blindly trusted Arin, which probably wasn’t a good thing considering he was a stranger he had met over the internet. But very early on, Ross had decided Arin was important, which was in hindsight probably a soulmates thing. He was staring at Arin, thinking about how much he actually wanted to impress _him_. In truth, he wanted Arin to think he was cool. It was stupid considering how well they already knew each other and all the time they’ve spent talking online, but it worried him. He was scared that Arin was going to make quick judgements about him and never want to see him again after meeting in person. He feared that his jokes would be taken personally or that he just wouldn’t be likeable in general. He wanted Arin to notice him, which admittedly is pretty childish. But he wasn’t staring because he was unimpressed; he was studying the other’s face and trying to see if he was unimpressed with _him_.

“Pick out what you want, I’m buying,” Arin said, finally looking away to pull out his wallet. “But only eat as much as you can handle,” he whispered in warning, “unless you want to unleash fucking hell in my bathroom later.” 

Ross laughed at the joke, that of course would have crossed a line if he had said it loud enough for the group in front of them in line to hear. His laughter trailed off as he thought about what Arin had initially said. Arin’s buying.

_Date?_ Was it a date? Just because they were soulmates didn’t mean that this had to be a date, right? They were both new to this. And Ross had already snapped at Arin about it once, even though his reaction was an accident. Would Arin have treated this like a date if he hadn’t had the timer? Was Arin really even treating this like a date because he feels like he has to or something, or was Ross just over-analyzing tiny details? 

He didn’t realize how quiet he had gotten, or didn’t even realize that they were the next in line until Arin elbowed him and pointed to the menu. “Do you know what you want?” Arin asked. 

Ross nervously looked at the menu. He squinted at all of the choices, trying to make a quick decision. He should have just chosen when he first walked in, because now he was just going to have to use the excuse of being a foreigner that had never been here before. Still, he didn’t like making the cashier wait.

“I think I want that — is it any good?” he said, pointing so that Arin could see his choice.

Arin’s gaze followed the other’s finger up to the board to a large burrito combo. He let out a chuckle that he couldn’t help but let turn into an obnoxious laugh that caught in his throat. He tried to quiet himself before the entire restaurant and Ross thought he was crazy, but he couldn’t help it. Because _of course_. Of course that’s the one that stands out to him.

“Well, I think it’s pretty good considering it’s my favorite thing on the menu and I get it every time I come here.”

“Oh.” He couldn’t tell if fate was either a _bitch_ or a _saint_. Either way, Arin caught his breath and put money on the counter, ordering two macho combo burritos. They were handed medium cups for their drinks, and walked away with the change. Arin made a joke about how Australian currency looked like monopoly money and didn’t even look real, to which Ross said that the US dollars were all the same color and didn’t even make sense logically.

All of the talk about money made Ross nervous again as he was filling his cup with Pepsi from the machine.

“I can pay you back, y’know? I got some cash before flying over so you wouldn’t have to pay for the whole week.” Arin shot him an expression with raised eyebrows that wasn’t easy for Ross to read, so he continued to ramble. “You’re gonna have to help me with the coins, though. Your guys’ whole system sucks,” he tried to joke. He attempted to smile, hoping that it wasn’t rude to offer to pay Arin back for the food. He already felt like he was taking up too much space by visiting for the week, especially because of the soulmate thing. It wasn’t like it was his fault or anything, but he didn’t want to push Arin over the edge and completely regret letting him fly over.

“Nah man, don’t even worry about it. It’s only like 8 bucks which isn’t that bad.”

_Shit shit shit._ Arin immediately realized his mistake as he watched Ross look down and fidget with his cup. 

“I mean, this isn’t like a date or anything. That’s not what I meant. Just like — you already spent so much money just flying to California. So like, this isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I’m sure you’ll do the same thing for me when I fly to Perth, and —” 

Arin was rambling and making a fool of himself. He looked at the ground and forced himself to just shut up for two seconds. His confident persona was fading, and he hoped that Ross wouldn’t be able to tell that he was only able to smooth-talk when he was online, when he wasn’t this nervous. His cheeks were red, and his embarrassment clouded his brain; he didn’t even notice when their number was called and a tray of matching burrito combos were placed on the counter.

Ross felt a surge of worry as he watched Arin. This was too much. He wished that he could just rewind time. Rewind to the exact moment that Arin had made his first misplaced joke and just laughed. The whole tone of the trip could have been different. But now they were tip-toeing around each other, too scared to admit hidden feelings or say something to make the other hate them. But looking at the way Arin was acting, Ross realized that Arin was just as nervous as he was. There was no reason to tip-toe around him, because Arin didn’t want him to. There was no need to be defensive.

“Here—” Ross quickly placed his hand on the other’s shoulder as he leaned in close. “I’ll get the food. Go find us a table.” Ross’s accented voice soothed Arin, along with the hand on his shoulder which was the first physical contact the two had ever had which jolted him out of the panic he was feeling in his stomach. He slowly nodded, shaking off the embarrassment, and quickly walked away from the line to find a booth in the corner of the restaurant. 

Ross finally went up to grab their tray after the second time their number was called, thanking the employee with a completely bullshit smile before he walked to the table, a good distance away from the rest of the people in the restaurant. Hopefully they had no clue as to why the two were acting so weird, or at least didn’t care enough to try to eavesdrop.

Ross sat across from the other who stared out the window. He grabbed one of the burritos from the try and watched as Arin fiddled with his fingers. Ross looked down again, rolling his shoulders back before he unzipped his jacket, finally exposing his arm to the other again. He examined the timer, but couldn’t think of anything to say to the other.

Arin cleared his throat, and took occasional glances from Ross’s wrist and his own. “I’m… sorry. This isn’t easy for me.”

“This isn’t easy for either of us, dude,” Ross replied. “Just don’t worry about — about _this_ right now. We’ll talk about it when we talk about it — when you’re ready.”

Arin nodded, now smiling. “Cool. Thanks.” He finally grabbed his own burrito from the tray. They both took a few bites, being silent.

Ross yawned audibly and exaggerated his arms stretching out. He smiled at the other. “I’m so jet lagged man. I could barely sleep a wink on the plane.” 

Arin nodded. “Okay, let’s go then.”

The two stood up and wrapped the remainder of their burritos back in the paper.

“And I swear, if you get burrito juice on my seats you’re paying for it.” 

“Oh really?” Ross smiled sarcastically, shaking his food in the air. “What are you gonna do?”

Arin relaxed back into their normal banter. Ross had definitely let him know that everything was going to be okay, and he could fall back to his comfort zone. “I’m gonna kick you out of the car, that’s what I’m going to do!” he yelled as they walked out of the front entrance, both with food and drinks in hand.

They both got back into Arin’s car. Despite the jokes, Ross didn’t reopen his burrito to eat, knowing that he was too clumsy and would likely spill it everywhere.

“Oh man, it feels so weird to be on this side of the car and not be driving man,” Ross said, finally saying what he should have joked about earlier when they were too tense to hash jokes.

“No man, you’re on the _right_ side of the car.”

“Pun intended.”

The two were able to joke more on the way back home. For right now it was going to be okay. There was no pressure to talk about anything that neither of them were ready to talk about yet. And that was perfect.

But dread filled both of them knowing that they only had a week. 

**Author's Note:**

> —Writes an already 3600 word multi-chapter story instead of finishing Losing You—
> 
> This was originally a roleplay I did with someone who fell off the grid, and I wanted to finish it because it was a plot line I really enjoyed. This chapter is heavily based off of that, but it is also heavily edited and made to be coherent instead of constantly bouncing perspectives. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and there will definitely be more chapters (probably after Losing You is finished so people don't yell at me). Tell me if you like it! I'm really excited for this fic! It will be updated soon (and I really mean that this time).


End file.
